89R5308 MPF-D
By: Hall S.B. No. 2208
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the procedures for the testing of voting system
equipment.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 127.094(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A group of test ballots, including ballots by mail,
shall be counted with the equipment using the program prepared for
processing the ballots voted in the election. The test ballots must
be printed on the same stock as the official ballots for the
election.
SECTION 2. Section 129.023, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-2) to read as
follows:
(c) The general custodian of election records shall adopt
procedures for testing that:
(1) direct the testing board to cast votes;
(2) verify that each contest position, as well as each
precinct and ballot style, on the ballot can be voted and is
accurately counted;
(3) include overvotes and undervotes for each race, if
applicable to the system being tested;
(4) include write-in votes, when applicable to the
election;
(5) include provisional votes, if applicable to the
system being tested;
(6) calculate the expected results from the test
ballots;
(7) ensure that each voting machine has any public
counter reset to zero and presented to the testing board for
verification before testing;
(8) require that, for each feature of the system that
allows disabled voters to cast a ballot, at least one vote be cast
and verified by a two-person testing board team using that feature;
[and]
(9) require that, when all votes are cast, the general
custodian of election records and the testing board observe the
tabulation of all ballots and compare the actual results to the
expected results;
(10) include the testing of optical scanners and
ballot marking devices, if applicable to the system being tested;
(11) require that each test ballot is marked and
labeled as a test ballot to ensure that it is not used to cast votes
in an election;
(12) require that, for a test ballot marked by hand,
the votes are cast and verified by a two-person testing board team;
and
(13) require that, if the general custodian of
election records discovers a discrepancy in the actual and expected
results under Subdivision (9), the general custodian of election
records must:
(A) reconcile or verify the discrepancy;
(B) provide a written explanation for the
discrepancy;
(C) publish the written explanation described by
Paragraph (B) on the county's Internet website; and
(D) immediately following the completion of the
test, conduct another test open to the public in accordance with the
procedures provided by this section.
(c-2) For purposes of Subsection (c-1), a representative
sample of voting system equipment consists of the lesser of 10 units
of voting system equipment or five percent of the total number of
units of voting system equipment to be used by the county in an
election.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an election that is ordered on or after the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2025.